Hesperus II
Tamarind March, Federated Commonwealth
9 April 3054
Gwen’s claymore struck home against Mechlanthon’s short “gladius” sword. Unable to maintain leverage with his smaller weapon, Gwen shoved and knocked him on his rump.
“You’ll never do anything with that little pig-sticker.” Said Gwen, making two swift slashes through the air with her own blade. “You don’t have the reach to even fend me off, let alone attack.”
“I am not a swordsman, but a mechwarrior.” Said Mechlanthon, his pride clearly hurt. “I do this only because it has helped me regain my strength.”
“And I also. You have noticed my limp I’m sure.” Said Gwen. “Still, Mechlanthon, if you wish to truly be one of us, then you must be both swordsman and mechwarrior.”
“You were on New Vision?”
“I was. I have heard that you were part of the attack.”
“I fought against warriors. I did not kill the innocent, in spite of my orders.”
“I doubt Joshua would have granted you such authority as he has if you were part and parcel of that holocaust.”
“We have all been victims in our own way. You lost your home, family, friends. I nearly lost my soul. I only found it again here among you.”
“It seems an unfair exchange.”
“It is.” Said Mechlanthon grimly.
Mechlanthon walked over with her to the bench on the side of the gym. Across the way, they watched as Daisaku and Joshua dueled themselves.
“Tell me, Gwen, you knew Joshua before the destruction?”
“Intimately.”
“Is he what you remember?”
“No, he’s changed. Stronger, more confident.”
“He has not been so much recently. I have feared for him with Lisa gone.”
“I am the one who imposed herself between them, you know.”
“I do. But he seems less lost now that you are here.”
“Good.”
“He should not need either of you to be strong.”
“Every great warrior fights for something, Mechlanthon. Joshua fights for love. He always has. Once it was me he fought for, and perhaps so now. For a time it was Lisa. But what about you? What is your cause?”
“I fight because I was born to it. I know no other way.”
“Your life must be very empty then…to have no purpose other than battle.”
“I fight for him. I fight for the Wolverines. That is my purpose.” Said Mechlanthon. “I need no other. You and Joshua are alike. You fight for love. You fight for his love. But will you become as lost when he returns to Lisa or will you find a new cause?”
“Everyone seems convinced that when she returns everything is going to be like it was.” Said Gwen impatiently. “That Joshua and Lisa will go back to being this nice happy couple. Well, I’m not convinced. And I’m not giving up.”
Gwen stood up and stormed out of the gymnasium.
Dark Ranger dropship Darkstar
Inbound, Northwind system
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
10 April 3054
Corporal Michelle Sarvon looked out the dropship window at the dark green ball that was Northwind. Now only a few hours out, the Dark Ranger dropship Darkstar was flying at the planet at amazing speeds.
Karl Rohan moved up behind her. “You’d best be ready for the final briefing.”
“When?” she asked.
“About five minutes, in the main hanger.”
With that, Michelle followed after Rohan into that hanger. Michelle had been lucky. Of the four people Rachel DeVoras had recruited to replace the original four Dark Rangers, only she remained, having been signed on by Logan as Tony’s replacement.
“I remember the last time we were going to take this trip,” said Kai, walking up behind the pair with Christian.
“Yeah, we had been tricked into a fake contract with the Conspiracy and were coming here to work. How ironic that we now raid our would-be benefactors.”
“Don’t look at me.” said Michelle. “I worked for Wolf’s Dragoons until they decided to assign me to Rachel’s Redcoats. I had nothing to do with our orders to join up with the Conspiracy.”
“God, you are sensitive about that.” said Kai.
“I really wish you wouldn’t take the Lord’s name like that, Kai.” said Christian. “Give her a break. She is, after all, the only pilot of Rachel’s that Logan kept around. No wonder she’s a little self-conscious.”
“Just a little.” said Michelle.
The four of them joined the remaining eight Rangers in the bay of the dropship. Logan was standing in the middle, despite his diminutive stature he seemed to tower over the entire group.
“Okay, listen up. Our target is an old castle turned prison camp on the southern shore of the Aberdeen Isthmus, approximately 130 klicks east Georgia. It is guarded by a full battalion of the 2nd Kearny Highlanders, commanded by Baron Ian O’Malley, father of your friend and mine.....” Logan let the sentence hang, but no one in the room didn’t know who he was referring to.
“Still, we’re only a short hop from Georgia, the Conspiracy capital. Within the city is at least one regiment, the 1st Conspiracy, and possibly two more, hobbled together from mercenaries. We don’t have accurate intelligence on them at this time. We have to be in and out before the Highlanders can call in reinforcements.
“As such, we are doing a low altitude combat drop at a point 30 klicks northwest of the prison. It is jungle terrain, which we will traverse to the combat site. We will destroy the munitions dump within the prison and retreat to a point fifty klicks northeast of the prison, where our dropship will be waiting for us.”
“And we’ll be fighting that battalion all the way.” said Tim.
“Unfortunately, yes. But we have an edge over them. Our mechs are far more mobile that theirs. The jungle terrain will not hinder us as much as they and pursuit for them will be difficult. Any questions?”
There were none.
“All right, men. Man your mechs and let’s kick some ass.”
Conspiracy Intelligence Headquarters, Georgia
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
10 April 3054
“I appreciate you being thorough, Lieutenant, given that the rebellion is so often on to our operations.” said Richard O’Malley into his vid-phone. “Yes, the prisoners are to be transferred to Georgia Penitentiary. Consider this verbal confirmation.”
“Very well, sir. They will be carried out. We will be leaving within the hour.”
“Good.” Said Richard, putting down the phone.
“Sir, we have a radar contact near Napineo’s prison. It appears to be a dropship attempting a low-altitude mech drop.” Said an intercom signal.
“As I was saying…” mused Richard aloud. “Thank you, Sergeant, for the update. Launch fighters and alert my father. Time to close the trap.”
Napineo’s Prison
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
12 April 3054
The deep dark hours of the pre-dawn time masked the Ranger’s approach to the castle. Rohan and the faster mechs were up ahead, searching for the Highlanders.
“No contact.” Reported Tim. “Continuing our sweep.”
“So what did Messer offer us for the pick-up?” asked Karl.
“One million extra if we bring back his wacko wife.” Responded Logan.
“Nice pay. Think we’ll find her?”
“I’m not keen on sticking around too long, even for an extra million.”
“At this rate, we could take a vacation here.” Said Karl frustrated. “I don’t get it. There was supposed to be a full battalion guarding this place. Where’d they go?”
“Maybe they vacated thinking it was pointless to guard an old prison with that many mechs.” said Cowboy.
“I smell a trap.” said Michelle.
“Cut the chatter, you three.” snapped Logan. His nerves were showing. “Like you, I don’t like this. Something’s not right.” The Nightmare crashed through the heavy trees into the clearing around the castle. Logan cautiously approached the castle walls, scanning the area for signs of its defenders.
“Well, let’s do it.” said Logan, lining up his sights on the large pile of crates in the courtyard of the castle. He squeezed the trigger and fired his PPC.
“No, wait, Logan....” said Rohan.
The shot touched off the munitions, which exploded in a fantastic display of pyrotechnics. Logan knew immediately something was wrong. Although the explosion was impressive, the amount of explosives that were supposed to be there should have leveled the castle when it went off. Napineo’s castle still remained, illuminated by the burning cache within.
“Something’s wrong. That blast should have been larger.”
“It’s a trap.” said Cowboy calmly. As if on cue, the air was suddenly filled with the sound of autocannon fire.
“Logan,” cried Whitey. “Enemy mechs, a whole bunch of them, coming up behind us. I’m under attack.”
“Pull in with the rest of the group.”
“Logan, multiple contacts ahead.” said Rohan. “Goddamnit, they’ve got us surrounded.”
“Damn Steiner. He tricked us here to die.” said Gene.
Logan brought his guns around to bear on a Highlander Phoenix Hawk. A quick shot from his gauss rifle sent the medium mech spinning off into the forest, badly damaged but not destroyed.
“Rohan, give me full information on what’s happening.” said Logan, drawing a bead on another mech, an Archer.
“I read 40 enemy mechs surrounding us on all sides, one full battalion. Heavies and assaults, a few mediums. It’s the Highlanders; They were waiting for us.”
“We need to cut a path through them and get the hell out of here. All Rangers close ranks. We’ll blast our way to our dropships.”
Whitey came staggering through the heavy woods, a monster close on the tail of his Marauder. Logan knew whose mech it was, Baron O’Malley’s own Victor. He turned the Nightmare to cover Whitey, but felt his mech shudder as autocannon shells from a Highlander Orion slammed into his back armor, shredding the armor on the Awesome’s left torso.
Doc locked onto a mech design he didn’t recognize, one of the new designs the Conspiracy had built for their war effort. His Ryoken fired its lasers, tearing armor from the mech, a Minuteman he remembered it being called. “Push through.” he ordered, trying to keep everyone focused in the chaos.
Whitey’s Marauder was getting pounded on by O’Malley, whose old 3025-era Victor, with its heavy autocannon, was making short work of the Marauder’s armor.
“They’re closing in around us, tightening the noose.” said Cowboy, blasting away at a tenacious Zeus. The Zeus retaliated, hammering off the armor of the Banshee’s right arm with its PPC and heavy laser.
“Watch that arm, Cowboy. You’ve got exposed ammo.” said Grayson, a sense of dread coming over him as he heard the last few rounds of autocannon ammo feed through to his Class 5. As the gun fell silent, he watched as his opponent, a Rifleman, crashed into the forest, out of the fight for good.
“Logan, I’m low on ammo.”
“Come on, close the noose further.” muttered Logan to himself, ignoring the pleas of his men. With a flash of brilliant white and red fire, the Victor’s autocannon bored through the left torso of the Marauder, detonating Whitey’s ammo stores. The Marauder exploded. Whitey did not eject. Without missing a beat, the Victor turned on Logan, who was still battling the Orion.
“Whitey’s down!” screamed Christian, fear in his voice. “We can’t hold out any longer.”
“Now!” said Logan. “Rangers, follow my lead.” Logan fired his jump jets, launching the Nightmare up and over the dwindling circle of enemy mechs. They had pulled the noose too tight, giving the jump capable Rangers their way out.
The rest of the Ranger’s followed suit. Logan came down facing the backs of his opponents, who desperately tried to spin around to face him. A full barrage from Logan’s powerful weapons into the back of the Orion finished that mech. It exploded in a bright flash of flame and light.
Rohan and other lighter Rangers took the initiative to get some distance between them and the heavier deadlier Highlanders. Logan, Cowboy, and Christian in his Crusader put down a lethal field of fire as the Rangers began their retreat to the north.
Now, as predicted, the heavy woods began to hinder the Highlanders. A handful of jump-capable Highlander mechs tried to keep up, but were cut down in short order. Baron O’Malley ordered no pursuit. Although the skirmish had lasted only about five minutes, the Highlander battalion was in bad shape. Twelve Highlander Battlemechs lay burning on the ambush field, only one Dark Ranger mech was destroyed.
Although most of them had escaped, Logan knew his Rangers were anything but in good shape. Ammo was their worst problem, as most of the mechs were dry. Logan slowed down when he realized there was no pursuit forthcoming. Silence ruled the airwaves.
“That was close.” said Rohan, almost an hour after the battle. It was the first thing anyone said.
“We were being watched over.” said Christian. “God was with us this day.”
“The Almighty isn’t the only thing watching us from above.” said Tim. “I’ve been picking up aerospace fighters for the last ten minutes.”
“We all have.” said Logan. “They’re following us.”
“If they find the dropship?” said Doc.
“It makes little difference.” said Logan. “We’re getting off this rock when we get to the Darkstar. I’m not playing this little game with Steiner. And screw Messer’s million. He can come after his own woman.”
“Has anyone tried to raise the dropship yet?” asked Michelle.
“Not supposed to. Radio silence remember?” said Cowboy.
“Fuck it.” said Gene. “They knew we were coming. I doubt very highly that keeping quiet with the Darkstar will protect them. This ambush was too well planned. They know where our dropship is, I’d put real money on it.”
“And if they know....” said Logan, worry creeping into his voice. “Logan to Darkstar, come in. Are you there? Damnit, I’m breaking radio silence. This whole trip’s a damn trap. Come in.”
There was only silence.
“We should be in range.” said Cowboy.
“We are.” said Rohan. “Gene was right. They’ve already gotten to the Darkstar.”
“We don’t know that for certain.” said Logan. “We’re only an hour away. We’ll know for certain then.”
“Until then, I’m going to work up some alternate plans.” said Gene. “If my hunch is correct, we’re going to need them.”
“Unfortunately for us, your hunches are rarely wrong.” said Logan.
Conspiracy Capital, Georgia
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
12 April 3054
“By now, the Dark Rangers should be sifting over the remains of their dropship.” said Richard O’Malley. “Without their ticket home, they’re going to have to dig in for a while.”
“I must admit, this was a clever plan. Well done, O”Malley.” asked Duke Ryan Steiner.
“Thank you, your grace.” Said Richard. “It was made better when we learned that the Commonwealth had sent the Dark Rangers. It will be nice to avenge our failure on Dieron.”
“You didn’t know it would be them?”
“No, not specifically. But I’ve learned that the underground has a propensity to figure out our moves. I used it against them this time, knowing they would likely draw someone here to destroy what they had uncovered. But now the trap has drawn shut. The Dark Rangers are trapped on-world. The munitions stockpile is safe. The prisoners are held secretly and securely in Georgia Penitentary. We hold the upper hand.”
“So what’s the next move?”
“We hunt them down.” Said Richard. “But tracking them now may prove to be difficult. Their dropship was landed about 50 klicks from the small agricultural city of New York. From there, they may try to get to Londonshire, where they can find equipment to resupply their damaged and depleted Battlemechs. But don’t worry. I have already sent five squads of my best shock troops to those two cities. We shall have them, rest assured.”
Outside New York
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
13 April 3054
“Any sign of life?” asked Logan.
“None, looks completely abandoned.” said Rohan. “The grain silos are large enough for our mechs and there’s enough of them for all of us.”
“I don’t like this.” said Doc. “This complex doesn’t strike me as something someone would just abandon and leave derelict like this.”
“You’re thinking this place is like New Belfast.” responded Kai. “Northwind’s grain industry isn’t as large. They’re self-supporting, but little more.”
“So large complexes like this one come and go over time. We should be safe.” said Cowboy. “Don’t be so nervous, Doc.”
“The internal elevators within the silos should make repair of the mechs easier.”
“True.” said Doc, “If I had anything to repair them with.”
“We’re working on that.” said Gene. “The city of Londonshire should have what we need. We’ll just need to find some way to get a hold of it. Transporting it out here will be easy. This grain complex is right near some railroad tracks.”
“Leave finding the stuff to me.” said Craig. His expertise in locating obscure items was well-known.
“Alright, guys, let’s get these mechs parked. I need to stretch my old legs.” said Grayson.
“Quit your whining.” grumbled Tim. “We’ll be out in a minute.”
---
It took them nearly an hour to secure their mechs. Much to their relief, their aerospace pursuit had fallen off after a quick strafing run near the dropship site and had not resumed. That told Logan one thing: the enemy knew where they were going.
Logan sat down, letting the exhaustion and terror work its way through his body. Michelle moved up behind him. “You okay?”
Logan closed his eyes and let out his breath. “Ever get that feeling that the whole world’s against you?”
“After Alyina, you should be used to it.” she said, rubbing his shoulders affectionately.
“That’s a feeling you should never get too used to.” said Logan, leaning back against her. “Trust me.”
Rohan poured himself a cup of coffee from his field kit and watched the pair. “Typical....”
“Don’t be so jealous, boss.” said Christian. “Envy is a dangerous sin. We’ve all known Michelle has this thing for him.”
“I don’t need to be preached to, Christian.”
“This whole deal still stinks.” said Kai. “Now what?”
“My guess is some of us are headed into Londonshire when the next train passes by.” said Christian. “The rest stay here and guard the mechs.”
“You’re correct.” said Gene, walking up to the group.
“Since when are you running the show?” snarled Tim.
“Calm down.” snapped Cowboy. “Gene, with that wonderful head of useless knowledge, knows more about this planet than any of us. Add to that his knack for planning and we’re in good shape.”
“I aim to be prepared.” said Gene, with a slight snub towards Tim.
“Enough, both of you.” said Rohan, speaking up after his long silence. “Things are tense enough without us bickering.” Rohan finished his coffee. “Logan, who’s going and who’s staying?”
“You, me, Doc, Michelle, Cowboy, and Craig are going. The rest stay here.”
“Why Michelle?” asked Kai.
“Her intelligence training.” said Rohan, before Logan could answer. “She’s got the street skills we need.”
“Yeah, right.” said Kai softly. Only Rohan could hear and he ignored the comment.
“The usual four get all the glory again, along with their personal favorites.” grumbled Tim.
“Cut it out.” said Christian. “It’s not our lot in life. Just face it.”
Tim was about to respond when Grayson cut in. “Quit your whining and do the job we get paid to do. If it means sitting on your ass, then by God you’re going to do it.”
“Thank you,” said Christian. “I think.”
Practice Grounds
Hesperus II
Skye March, Federated Commonwealth
13 April 3054
Joshua maneuvered his Nightsky through the narrow valleys of the Hesperus testing grounds. The hatchet mech was responding well. Armed with several pulse lasers, a fast engine, and its deadly hatchet, the Nightsky was the first of a new breed of Inner Sphere mechs. It was based loosely on the old Hatchetman, but lacked the older mech’s biggest flaw, its slow speed.
Joshua was chasing Daisaku, who was in a new Battle Hawk light mech. Joshua outgunned, outran, and outweighed his opponent, but Daisaku was a tenacious rival. The two had been going back and forth for nearly ten minutes now, neither mech had been seriously damaged.
“Alright, you little worm, where are you?” said Joshua, under his breath.
“You should look up more often.” said a voice. It was Daisaku.
Joshua’s eyes darted to the sky, trying to see his opponent. A single Hatchetman leaped over the valley’s edge to cross it. The mech either missed seeing Joshua completely, or chose to ignore him.
The Nightsky shuddered as the computer simulated the effects of laser fire. Joshua realized what had happened and suddenly noticed Daisaku was behind him. The smaller Battle Hawk had a potent array of its own in pulse lasers.
Joshua spun his mech to face his opponent. Daisaku cut loose with another burst, shredding through the damaged armor of the Nightsky’s left arm. A lucky shot snapped the bone in the center of the arm and it went flying off. That damage cost Joshua his heavy laser, dropping his edge in firepower significantly.
Joshua returned fire, tracing laser pulses up and down Daisaku’s mech. But it held its own and the battle quickly degenerated into a brutal close-range slugfest. After half-a-minute of intense laser fire, Joshua decided to make it a “real” slugfest, charging forward with his hatchet ready.
Daisaku knew he couldn’t let Joshua get that close. Quick as a whip, he dropped his arms and cut loose a vicious barrage across Joshua’s legs.
The computer read the hit as crippling, shearing the foot off of Joshua’s right leg. The gyro immediately went into simulated stumbling before a simulated fall. After which, the monitors went dark, indicating that the fall had been lethal to the mech.
“I’ll be damned.” said Joshua, looking down at his shaking hands. “He beat me.” After a few seconds, the shock turned to numbing self-doubt. “He shouldn’t have been able to do that. I had every advantage. But I made mistakes.”
Joshua dismounted from the mech and watched as Daisaku marched his mech up beside him. The simulation was realistic enough that Joshua felt it strange to see Daisaku’s mech and his own intact after their encounter.
Daisaku dismounted and walked over to him. Joshua glared at his friend. “Alright, Daisaku, rematch, the gym. Bring your kendo sword.”
Daisaku slumped his shoulders and head in defeat. “Ah, man, the one time I manage to beat you in a simulation and you have to ruin it by kicking my ass in a sword fight. Can’t you just let me have my moment of glory?”
“Well, let’s hope this gave us a good shakedown with the new mechs. We’re outfitting your new regiment with these mechs.”
“As well as filling in the gaps in your regiment.”
Much like the Gallowglas the Dragoons had given the Swords, the mechs Daisaku and Joshua had been piloting were part of a new generation of Battlemech. Most “new” designs were simply older mechs refitted with rediscovered technology. Some barely embraced the technologies, like the new Thunderbolt. Others, like the new Marauder, embraced it so much it was detrimental. These, however, were original designs based on the rediscovered Star League technology. Expensive and powerful, these new mechs taxed Star League technology to the max, desperately trying to prepare the Inner Sphere against the Clans’ technological edge.
“A better test would be to send them against our Omnimechs.” said Daisaku. “I think we need to arrange that.”
“I agree. Good idea.”
“You and Gwen going out tonight?” asked Daisaku. Joshua looked at Daisaku with a puzzled glance.
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
“Can I ask you something?” said Daisaku. “Something kind of personal.”
“Of course, Daisaku.”
“Is there really something there? Between you and Gwen.”
“Depends on who you ask.” Said Joshua. “She thinks so.”
“I know that. I’m asking about you.”
“I sent the Dark Rangers to fetch Lisa from Northwind. That should say something.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“Why the sudden interest? The damage has been done.”
“Lisa forgave you. She said as much in her message.”
“It’s not that simple. Look, you’re asking me to predict and to plan and to decide what I feel and who I want to be with and who I’m going to be with. I wish it was that simple, but yeah, Gwen confuses things. She confuses me. You know me well enough to know that my whole world has been topsy turvy this past year. I dragged us all down here, got us involved in a war we should have had no part in. I’ve lost my anchor and I’m adrift on the winds. I’ve gotten some of my bearings back, but not all of them. I can’t give you a better answer than that.”
“So Gwen is right about one thing. Things aren’t settled then.”
“No, they’re not.”
“You could have given her to me. I could use a seasoned commander in my new regiment. Instead you put her charge of my old battalion.”
“You get Miranda and Kou. Hardly novice fighters there.”
“That’s not my point. You kept her close.”
“There’s going to be a reckoning, Daisaku. One way or the other. No sense delaying the inevitable. I will be forced to choose, and when I do, no matter who I choose, I hurt someone I love dearly.” Joshua shook his head. “You know, this is a sad commentary on my life. I can order men to their deaths, good men, good soldiers, for the sake of victory over an enemy. I can make those decisions. Why is it that this one fills me with such dread?”
Londonshire
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
19 April 3054
“I was beginning to wonder why it was taking you so long to contact me.” said Richard O’Malley into the vid-phone at his newly set up headquarters in Londonshire. He had taken command of the hunt for the Dark Rangers personally when the first week of searching had yielded no results. That quickly changed once O’Malley took control.
“It hasn’t exactly been easy getting away from the rest of the Rangers without good reason.” Came the reply.
“You’re a little late. We’ve already located the group you’re with in town and we’re planning on hitting them tonight. If you’d not contacted me, you might have gotten caught in the cross-fire. I had begun to question your loyalty. It is good to hear from you. I’d recommend keeping your head down around 10 p.m. Now where are the others? The rest of the Dark Rangers?”
“New York. There’s an abandoned grain complex about 12 klicks southwest of the city.”
“I know the one.”
“That’s where they are. Mechs and all.”
“Using the silos to hide their mechs. How clever.”
Michelle nodded.
“Anyway, you need to have all the Rangers present when we strike at their hotel tonight. Can you at least do that much, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, get going. We don’t want your companions getting suspicious.”
---
It was 9:45 that evening. Most of the crew, minus Craig who was supposed to have been back an hour earlier, was in one room of the hotel, playing poker.
“I’ll see your six and raise you three more.” said Doc.
“Confident, aren’t you?” said Cowboy.
“At least the lovebirds have stopped.” said Rohan. “The noise of their coupling was getting out of hand.”
“Beginning to think Tim might have had a point, Rohan?” said Cowboy. “I’ll see your three, Doc.”
“Too rich for me.” said Rohan. “I fold. Yeah, maybe he did. Hormone boy in there needs to be reined in, I think. Tim was right.”
“You’re just jealous because he hooked up with Yuri and now he’s claimed the only female mechwarrior in the Rangers.” said Doc. “Let’s see your cards, Cowboy.”
“Two pair.”
“Gotcha, full house.” said Doc. “Please don’t tell me you’re mad because you think he’s cheating on Yuri. Logan’s a fuck-em and chuck-em type.”
“Glad Christian’s not here. He wouldn’t stand for this, the sex or the language.” said Cowboy.
“Or the gambling. But he’s getting used to us, I think.” said Doc. “He’d better. Logan’s anything but a paragon of virtue and morality.” Doc paused and shifted the subject back. “Yuri’s probably dead anyway.” He mused.
“That’s not what I’ve heard.” Said Rohan. “Rumor has it that Teddy Kurita’s got himself a new ISF Director. A woman with a cybernetic arm.”
“Hey, guys.” said Michelle, walking into their room from the other. She was tucking in the shirt of her uniform.
“Can you do me a favor?” asked Doc.
“I was just about to ask if anyone wanted a soda. I’m going down to the machine now.”
“Sure you can get me one.” said Doc, tossing her some change. “I really wanted to ask you to keep the volume down when the two of you are....you know.”
“Oh, sorry. We didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“It was a bit loud.” said Cowboy flatly.
“Okay, sorry. I can’t help it if I get a bit expressive.” With that, she departed.
“Expressive, she calls it.” said Doc sardonically. “New deal.”
About five minutes had passed when Michelle came bursting into the room, fear in her eyes. “Guys, ConsInt in the lobby. They know we’re here.”
“Fuck!” said Doc, “Get Logan up now!” He grabbed his shotgun and slapped several shells into it. Cowboy headed out onto the balcony to look up while Michelle woke Logan.
“How long do we have?”
“I don’t know.” said Rohan, covering the front door with his Zeus heavy rifle.
“They’re repelling down from the roof.” cried Cowboy. He squeezed the trigger on his Mydrons, letting off two quick bursts upward. At least one of the bursts hit, since a body of one ConsInt trooper hurled past the balcony to fall to his death below.
The front door burst open. Rohan squeezed the trigger, firing off two quick shots into the first soldier. The impact of the shells knocked him back into the second, causing him to stumble. With the dead trooper acting as a shield, Doc’s blast from his shotgun ripped into the corpse rather than the second soldier, who dove for the floor and opened fire with his SMG.
Shells ripped into the poker table where Doc and Rohan had taken cover. Out in the hallway, the pair could hear several shots: Logan.
Logan was using the doorway to his room as cover as he fired into the group that was breaking into other room. Caught between Logan, Doc, and Rohan, the group of ConsInt troopers was not long for the world. The smoke cleared after about three minutes, leaving none of the ConsInt commandos standing.
“Let’s get the hell out of here.” said Logan, grabbing his things. “The cops’ll be here next.” As if on cue, sirens could be heard from the streets below.
“But Craig?” said Doc.
“Tough shit.” said Logan. “He’s the one who’s late. He’s on his own.”
The group fled the hotel via the fire stairs and disappeared into the night.
Near New York
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
9 April 3054
“Transmission from Londonshire, sir.” said the pilot, handing a headset radio back into the troop compartment of the helicopter.
Richard O’Malley set his battle rifle aside and took the communicator. “What? That’s impossible. That little bitch tipped them off. Damn her. Use local authorities and track them down. They don’t have anywhere to go, so we’ll find them eventually. Do it.” He handed the communicator back and turned to the commander of the commando squad.
“My insider tipped off the Dark Rangers in Londonshire.” he warned. “So this group out here may be ready for an attack as well.”
“There’s not enough of them to move all of their mechs.” said the commander. “We’ll get something out of this even if the Rangers have fled.”
“The train should be in place by 0500 hours, six hours from now. With it, we can ship their mechs back to Georgia and ‘donate’ them to the First Conspiracy.”
“We’re coming up on the landing zone.” said the pilot.
“Okay, you know the drill. No deadly force unless absolutely necessary. I want prisoners, now more than ever with Logan still alive.”
The commander nodded as the helicopter touched down. Within seconds, the squad of twelve men had disembarked and was on its way towards the grain complex, two kilometers away.
---
In a scenes similar to their companions in Londonshire, Tim and Kai were gathered in a central room playing cards. Gene and Christian were in the garage, playing a game of chess. Grayson was by himself in a back office, reading a paperback novel.
Gene was the first to sense something was up. The garage was isolated by in large from the rest of the rooms in the building and was the first thing anyone from the outside would reach. When the commandos burst into the building, Gene knew they were coming and opened fire with his submachine gun. The burst was lethal to the first two soldiers who came into the room. The third came low and returned fire. Seven bullets ripped up the young man’s leg and into his abdomen. He collapsed, writhing in pain.
“Gene, no!” screamed Christian. Soldier #4 opened fire, his bullet struck low, hitting the old tractor and ricocheting up into Christian’s face. The impact knocked the man off his feet.
“I told you no lethal force.” screamed O’Malley in rage. “You just killed two of them.”
“They fired first. Two of my guys are dead.” retorted the commander.
“Correction. Three.” said O’Malley, firing his sidearm into the commander’s forehead. The man collapsed, blood pouring all over the floor from the gaping wound in his head. “Idiot!” swore O’Malley.
The shots had tipped off the other Rangers. Grayson dove behind the desk in the office and drew his shotgun. In the main room, Kai leaped behind the door, ready to ambush the first one to enter. Tim took cover in the room, his weapons drawn.
“No lethal force.” repeated O’Malley. “Use sonic stunners and stunsticks only. Do you understand?” The pale young officer looked down at his predecessor before nodding rapidly.
Four troops broke off to search the office, the remaining six to the main room. The office group decided against barging in and taking the gunfire of anyone inside. They quickly wired plastic explosives to the door hinges and blew the door clean off. Grayson opened fire as the door spun away, but his shot went through empty air. The four ducked around, two on each side, and fired their sonic stunners. To their amazement, Grayson staggered to his feet and shrugged them off almost instantly. When he recovered, he opened fire again. The shotgun blast took one commando in the face, killing him instantly. The commandos ducked back behind the cover and Grayson stood there, covering the door with his gun.
The commandos decided on a new strategy. Two drew their real guns. The third ducked in again and fired his sonic stunner. Grayson fired and hit him, killing him. But he staggered again. The other two commandos dove in and fired their rifles. The shots hit Grayson in the shoulder and leg, knocking him on his back, wounded but not dead.
O’Malley decided on a similar tactic to get into the other room. Rather than blow off the door, he decided to blow a hole in the wall instead. Three of the squad, himself included, would brave the door and after a few seconds, the rest would come through the wall and surprise the distracted Rangers.
O’Malley was not stupid enough to be the first to enter however. As expected, the first commando through the door took all the fire, dying under a hail of bullets. The second went low, lucky enough to be missed to fire his stunner at Tim. Tim collapsed.
O’Malley came through next and Kai grabbed him, slamming him against the wall. The move knocked the stunner from Richard’s hand, disarming him. The commandos burst through the wall, but with O’Malley in close combat with Kai, they held their fire.
Kai smashed O’Malley in the face with his palm and rammed his fist into his gut. Hopping back a step, he smashed a kick into his chest and then doubled tapped him in the head. Dazed, O’Malley fumbled for his stunstick as Kai roundhoused him across the room. For a brief second, there was an opening and the commandos fired. The stunner shot did nothing as Kai dove in again. O’Malley stabbed his stunstick forward, catching Kai in the gut as he closed for another barrage of martial arts moves. The stick did its job; The jolt of electricity sent Kai sprawling.
Back in the other room, the two commandos closed on the wounded Grayson. As they came around the desk, Grayson stuffed the gun in the gut of the first soldier and fired. Blood and various bits of anatomy splattered across the wall. The second soldier fired again, hitting Grayson in the other shoulder. He was about to fire again when O’Malley came in and fired his sonic stunner. Between the stunner and the pain of his wounds, it was too much and Grayson lapsed into unconsciousness.
“One Ranger, four commandos, and only one of you is still breathing. I’m impressed.” said O’Malley, wiping the blood from his nose and looking at the three corpses around the room.
“Sir, now what?” asked the young commander.
“Gather up the corpses and set them aside, Ranger and ConsInt. Restrain the breathing ones and we’ll take them back with us. With these three alive, we’ll have bargaining chips with Logan and the others that escaped earlier this evening.”
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